Bargain ski properties in Spain

Wednesday 2nd January 2013

While most avid skiers typically look for winter holiday homes in France, Switzerland and Canada, those seeking to secure a bargain property purchase, may wish to consider buying a ski home in Spain, where values have halved in the past five years. The Catalan Pyrenees has long been popular with British holidaymakers, and it would appear that now could be a good time to pick up a discounted home in the region.

Figures from Idealista.com show that the average cost of property in Spain's most upmarket ski resort, Baqueira Beret, have declined from €8,000sqm (£6,500) in 2008 to €4,000sqm (£3,250) today.

The Catalan Pyrenees slide is closely followed by the Aragonese Pyrenees, where property values in Formigal have dropped from €6,000sqm (£4,875) to €3,000sqm (£2,437).

Fernando Rodriguez de Acuna, group vice president at RR de Acuna & Asociados, told The Daily Mail: “There are 800,000 used homes [in Spain] on the market. Developers are sitting on a further 700,000 completed units. Another 300,000 have been foreclosed and 150,000 are in foreclosure proceedings, and there are another 250,000 still under construction.”

RR de Acuna & Asociado's research suggests that those willing to hold off from buying property now could find that property prices in some parts of the country could actually fall further throughout 2013.